WHS Accreditation is a process of testing the calculations being performed by the products or services being used by an Authorized Association for handicap computation within its jurisdiction and determining whether they are producing results in accordance with the Rules of Handicapping and the WHS Technical Specification.
Accreditation will be issued to a handicap computation service provider (“provider”) only if their product satisfies the QA testing procedures as established by WHS, and should be renewed as required, either due to revisions to the Rules of Handicapping or changes to the product or service.
Once all of the QA testing procedures have been successfully completed, the provider will be added to the most up to date Accreditation list on whs.com and they will be sent the codes and keys required to access the Central Directory and the Course Rating Database. Upon request, and only if circumstances require it, providers may be given access to the Central Directory and the Course Rating Database before the QA process has been completed, but this will be on the strict understanding that accreditation must be successfully achieved within 3 months or as otherwise determined by the WHS staff.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Accreditation is not a license or authorization to use the World Handicap System. Only an Authorized Association (multi-national, national or regional association, federation or union) is authorized to implement and administer the Rules of Handicapping within its jurisdiction by entering into an agreement with the United States Golf Association (USGA) and R&A Rules Limited (The R&A). to be considered for accreditation, a provider must submit the following application form: